Kenya Climate & Population Info

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Kenya Climate

Because of Kenya's diverse geography, temperature, rainfall and humidity vary widely but there are effectively four zones about which generalisations can be made.

The undulating plateau of Western Kenya is generally hot and fairly humid with rainfall spread throughout the year though most of it falls in the evening. The highest falls are usually uring April when a maximum of 200mm may be recorded whilst the lowest falls are during June with an average of about 66mm. Temperatures range from a maximum of 30-34°C to a minimum of 14-18°C

Kenya lies astride the equator on the east coast of Africa between the 5oS and 40oS parallels, covering a total land area of 582,000 sq. km. Its western border touches the 34oE longitude. It is bordered in the north by Ethiopia and the Sudan, in the west by Uganda, in the south by Tanzania, and in the east by Somalia and the Indian Ocean. The country rises from sea level at the Coast to altitudes of 5,100m.

This explains how one can experience the hot and humid climate of the Coast, the damp moorland climate of the highlands, the bone-chilling snow of Mt. Kenya, and the scorching desert climate of Mandera, all in the same country. The changes in altitude create habitats and ecosystems that support a great diversity of plant and animal life.

Kenya's population stands at around 30 million and is made up of entirely of Africans with small minorities of Asians (abour 90,000), Europeans (40,000) and Arabs(40,000). the population growth rate at one time was the highest in the world. There are more than 70 tribal groups among the Africans, although the distinctions between many of them is already blurred and are becoming more so Western cultural values become more ingrained.

Even though the average Kenyan may have outwardly drifted away from tribal traditions, tribe is still the most important part of a person's identity. When 2 Africans meet and introduce themselves they will almost always say right a the outset what tribe they are each from. Although nominally christian fro the most part, a suprising number of people still practice traditional customs

The economically important Asian minority is made up largely of people of Indian descent whose ancestors originated from the western state of Gujarat and from Punjab. Unlike the situation in Uganda, sensibility prevailed and the Asians here were not thrown into exile, largely because their infulence was too great. Uganda is still trying to get its economy back on track. Indian connections go way back centuries ago when they came in to build the Kenya-Uganda railway. when their contracts expired many of them decided to stay and set up businesses. Since they were an industrious and economically aggressive community they quickly ended up controlling large parts of the economies of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda